FIS World Cup Whistler PGS

December 15, 2003

WHISTLER, BC, December 12, 2003 — Austria’s Siegfried Grabner, the current leader of the World Cup PGS Tour, took first place again today. Switzerland’s Simon Schoch finished second and Austria’s Stefan Kaltschuetz finished third. This was the second event of the Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup in Whistler, taking place December 11-14.

Jasey-Jay Anderson from Mont Tremblant, Canada finished fourth in today’s Nissan Parallel Giant Slalom event, just missing the podium in a valiant fight to the end.

“Today was a good day,” Anderson said. “I’m in the running for the overall World Cup PGS Title and my goal is to win that. I’ve been extremely consistent finishing in the top five in every race but I just have to step it up a bit and get back on the podium. The worst race of the year for me was the one I missed in Sweden – it’s a high calibre field and there’s no margin for errors like that.

Anderson has held onto his third place spot in the overall World Cup PGS standings, even after today’s fourth place finish.

In the women’s competition, a jubilant Ursula Bruhin from Switzerland finished first, Daniela Meuli also Swiss, came second, and USA’s Michelle Gorgone finished third. Out of nine Canadian women who were racing in the field of 47, Victoria’s Aimee Newton finished on top in 25th place.

Bruhin of Switzerland was excited about her win. “I fell in the first qualifying run and I thought my day was over, she said. “But then I did well in the second (qualifying) run and was able to carry it right through until the end. Bruhin narrowly beat out Daniela Meuli, her teammate and the current PGS Word Cup leader, to take top spot.

The Nissan Parallel Giant Slalom, is a discipline where two riders race head to head in drag racing style competing on mirror-image courses only five metres apart. An elimination ladder format is used to pair riders down until only two are left to battle it out on a 40-second dual course. Riders can reach speeds of 80 km per hour and are considered to be the fastest riders in the world.